Friends at Work? Not So Much • Hacker News Board

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#31

Post by slingerofwheat » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:11 AM UTC

dceddia wrote: post #22

"Technology companies like Google and Facebook provide opportunities for shared games, sports, exercise and meals — and research suggests that playing together and eating together are good ways to foster cooperation." Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting? I'm all for hanging out with some coworkers on occasion. I like quite a few of them. But company-sponsored "hang out with your co…

No.

For a lot of people who move in from strange places on earth to work at FB/Goog/tech company, making friends is very hard. Hanging out with co-workers has been the primary way for a lot of people I know to have a social life.

I'm a nerdy Asian guy who worked with a predominantly white company and it was very lonely there, because none of the white people want to "hang out with co-workers". However, moving to a larger company really helped me make friends and boost my self esteem. It may be corporatey, but I'm thankful my company atleast cares that much.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#32

Post by mhurron » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:16 AM UTC

nicklaf wrote: post #29

mhurron wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting No you're not. I refuse to participate in them.

You might not like to work in Japan, then!

That's not really a problem I'll have.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#33

Post by r00fus » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:20 AM UTC

mikerichards wrote: post #30

Americans have gone on vacation with 6 percent of their closest co-workers, versus 25 percent in Poland and 45 percent in India. No, the odd ones are the Poles and Indians that are going on vacation with their co-workers....seriously.

Yeah, though I have swung by coworkers homes when visiting a new area where we have no family...

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#34

Post by nicklaf » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:20 AM UTC

cb18 wrote: post #18

Tycho wrote: post #10

One thing I find a bit weird, and I suspect it started in America (but I'm not sure), is when colleagues pass each other and they say 'how are you?' and keep walking , making it entirely obvious that they're not really interested in how you are. Or maybe they expect some rapid fire response. Not sure. But I think it would be better to just say 'Hi' if you don't intend to stop and actually talk.

This is an American thing in general, not just a workplace thing. I know that people in other cultures find it quite strange sometimes, and frankly it is when the actual meaning of the words is considered and what their use implies. But it has somehow just become a kind of standard default greeting. I think it's probably meant to imply a kind of warmness to the person it is directed to, kind of like, "nice to see you…

Yep. For this reason, my usual response to "how are you" from somebody passing by is "hi".

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#35

Post by _jgdh » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:21 AM UTC

mikerichards wrote: post #30

Americans have gone on vacation with 6 percent of their closest co-workers, versus 25 percent in Poland and 45 percent in India. No, the odd ones are the Poles and Indians that are going on vacation with their co-workers....seriously.

Are you missing the point of the article? According to the author, Poles and Indians consider their co-workers their friends. Americans in general don't. His other point is that Americans used to think differently, so Americans working today would consider people from 30-40 years ago to be odd ones too.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#36

Post by Steko » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:22 AM UTC

Surprisingly, ctrl+f 'cubicle' gives no matches on NYT or here but it seems like an obvious reason. I can't speak for most of the rest of the world but today's Japanese office for rank and file still tends to look something like [1] - desks pointed inward, arranged so that workers are focused on common areas with low or no partitions. OTOH in the US the ubiquitous cubicles have high partitions and are often arranged around the walls of the space so people are pointed away from each other.

Whether this was done intentionally for some productivity benefits or because workers liked the additional privacy or is just some unintended side effect I have no idea.

[1] https://sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/gj-3.j...

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#37

Post by dceddia » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:22 AM UTC

slingerofwheat wrote: post #31

dceddia wrote: post #22

"Technology companies like Google and Facebook provide opportunities for shared games, sports, exercise and meals — and research suggests that playing together and eating together are good ways to foster cooperation." Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting? I'm all for hanging out with some coworkers on occasion. I like quite a few of them. But company-sponsored "hang out with your co…

No. For a lot of people who move in from strange places on earth to work at FB/Goog/tech company, making friends is very hard. Hanging out with co-workers has been the primary way for a lot of people I know to have a social life. I'm a nerdy Asian guy who worked with a predominantly white company and it was very lonely there, because none of the white people want to "hang out with co-workers". However, moving to a la…

Thanks, I hadn't thought of it from that perspective :) I'm glad you found some friends.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#38

Post by dceddia » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:26 AM UTC

YokoZar wrote: post #28

dceddia wrote: post #22

"Technology companies like Google and Facebook provide opportunities for shared games, sports, exercise and meals — and research suggests that playing together and eating together are good ways to foster cooperation." Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting? I'm all for hanging out with some coworkers on occasion. I like quite a few of them. But company-sponsored "hang out with your co…

There's a substantial difference between teambuilding work events on work time and putting out a basketball court on campus for employees to use in their off hours. The latter is still a "company provided opportunity for shared games".

Yeah, I'm thinking I may have misread this bit -- giving employees spaces and time to hang out is definitely different from (and better than) the "teambuilding" stuff that seems fake.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#39

Post by carlsbadnm » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:26 AM UTC

dceddia wrote: post #22

"Technology companies like Google and Facebook provide opportunities for shared games, sports, exercise and meals — and research suggests that playing together and eating together are good ways to foster cooperation." Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting? I'm all for hanging out with some coworkers on occasion. I like quite a few of them. But company-sponsored "hang out with your co…

Totally awkward and forced, and I'm also totally appreciative of it. Meeting people can be hard, workplace or no. Some of us don't keep the same friends for our entire lives, for reasons that are unique to us and very reasonable.

Re: Friends at Work? Not So Much

#40

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 1:27 AM UTC

dceddia wrote: post #22

"Technology companies like Google and Facebook provide opportunities for shared games, sports, exercise and meals — and research suggests that playing together and eating together are good ways to foster cooperation." Does anyone else find this sort of stuff very corporate and off-putting? I'm all for hanging out with some coworkers on occasion. I like quite a few of them. But company-sponsored "hang out with your co…

[deleted]